For years the LGBT community has been told that one of the reasons why the gay village must be fenced off and ticket-only during Manchester Pride is due to the bylaws concerning public drinking.
Now, once again, that policy has been exposed for the fraud it always was.
Yesterday Manchester was filled with drunken Glasgow Rangers football fans, who eventually rioted and attacked police when a large TV screen failed to work.
The Independent reports:
‘…the council promised a warm welcome, with a relaxed attitude to fans drinking on the street – normally outlawed ‘
When it’s football, and out-of-town fans who are known for being some of the most badly-behaved in the UK, the rules are relaxed and they can drink on the streets all day. But not when it’s an LGBT event for locals or, more importantly, when most money can be made from fencing those people into the gay village.
As usual, it’s only about what makes most money for businesses. Forget the women and workers who felt intimidated on the streets of the city by slobs who were drinking from crates of beer from early morning and shouting anti-Catholic chants.
Speaking of which, who pays for the street cleaning and policing yesterday? Manchester’s Pride is hit every year with policing and street cleaning costs, which further reduce the amount left for charity. So I hope the bill for yesterday will be passed onto the various football organisations?
Though I’m writing this to highlight the double-standards of Manchester City Council, overall I would like to see alcohol play less of a role in Manchester Pride.
2 Comments
Excellent point (and great series of posts lately). I hadn’t thought of it like that, but you’re absolutely right.
I’m tempted to write to the council, just to see what they’d say.
I was staying in a range of Inverness Hotels doing work for my tourism job and went to a Inverness V Rangers game for something to do, what an experience,I ended up in with the rangers fans and they did not stop signing the hole game, it was awesome, I come from Belgium and was into football before but I am a true blue now.